May love and marriage be the theme, To visit me in this night’s dream: Gentle Venus be my friend, The image of my lover send. Let me see his form and face, And his occupation trace; By a symbol or a sign, Cupid, forward my design.
Steep mistletoe berries, to the number of nine, in a mixture of ale, wine, vinegar and honey; take them on going to bed, and you will dream of your future lot. A storm in this dream is very bad; it is most likely you will then marry a sailor, who will suffer shipwreck at sea; but to see either sun, moon or stars, is an excellent presage; so are flowers; but a coffin is an index of a disappointment in love.
To be tried on any Friday in Lent, Good Friday excepted, when it is improper to try anything of the kind, and the mind ought to be more seriously disposed. Write twelve letters of the common alphabet on separate pieces of card, also twelve figures, and the same number of blank cards; then put them in a bag and shake them well, and let each one present draw one. A blank shows a single life; a figure, intrigue; and a letter, a happy marriage.
CHARMS TO KNOW WHO YOUR HUSBAND SHALL BE.
_On St. Agnes’ Day._--This falls on the 21st of January. You must prepare yourself by a twenty-four hours fast, touching nothing but pure spring water, beginning at midnight on the 20th, to the same again on the 21st; then go to bed, and mind you sleep by yourself, and do not mention what you are trying to any one, or it will break the spell. Go to rest on your left side, and repeat these lines three times:
St. Agnes, be a friend to me; In the gift I ask of thee; Let me this night my husband see,
and you will dream of your future spouse. If you see more men than one in your dream, you will wed two or three times; but if you sleep and dream not, you will never marry.
_By Bride Cake._--A slice of the bride cake thrice drawn through the wedding ring, and laid under the head of an unmarried woman, will cause her to dream of her future husband.
_By the Garter and Stocking._--The party inquiring must live in a different county from that in which she commonly resides, and, on going to bed, must knit the left garter about the right legged stocking, letting the other garter and stocking alone; and as you rehearse the following verse, at every comma knit a knot: